Dreams have been recognized as sacred and spiritual experiences in many cultures around the world since the beginning of recorded history and perhaps even earlier. In the last century, the understanding of dreams has changed from one related exclusively to the spiritual to that pertaining to the physical/psychological realm. Toward the end of the twentieth century, the idea of lucid dreaming, or dreaming with deliberate intention and control, has moved from the world of shamans or spiritualists to realization that lucid dreaming can be achieved by anyone with the assistance of nutritional supplements and practice.
In order to facilitate the understanding of lucid dreaming, it is important to understand some basic elements about sleep and common, or non-lucid, dreaming. Humans have little understanding of why we sleep and dream. It is known, though, that the most vivid dreams occur during that phase of a sleep cycle called Rapid Eye Movement, or REM. It is known that healthy human adults go through about 3-6 cycles during a normal night's sleep, with each cycle being about 90-120 minutes long. REM sleep is usually the last phase of each cycle. Dreams can occur during any phase of any cycle, however, it is known that those dreams that occur during REM sleep tend to be the most vivid and visual and are usually not directly related to current events from the dreamer's experiences during the prior day.
As scientists began to learn more about the function of the human brain, it was discovered that the stimuli that produce images in dreams originate in a part of the brain not associated with thinking, desires or wishes, but a more primitive area. This lead to the neurophysiological or synthesis activation theory of dreams in which dreams result from random stimuli from the brain stem. In accordance with this theory, the cognitive parts of the brain play a minimal part in dreaming, probably limited to trying to make sense out of the random images originating from the primitive region of the brain stem.
It is surmised that dreaming is important in the development of memory. Human infants spend up to 16-18 hours a day sleeping and approximately 50% of this is in REM sleep. It has been determined that intense sessions of learning are followed by an increase in REM sleep. Dreaming also seems to play a role in emotional adjustment and in coping with traumatic experiences.
The term “Lucid Dreaming” was first used in 1913 by Fredrich van Eeden, a Dutch physician. Lucid dreaming is perhaps best defined as being aware that you are dreaming and is most likely to occur in REM sleep. Lucid dreaming can be either low level or high level. Low level lucid dreaming means that the dreamer is aware of being in a dream, but that not all the people, animals, things and scenes are constructs of his or her mind. In high level lucid dreaming, the dreamer is not only aware of being in a dream, but that all of the elements of the dream are being generated by their mind and are therefore potentially under their complete control.
According to studies done on lucid dreaming, these dreams may not only be potentially pleasurable or wish fulfilling, they can be tools for improving the quality of the dreamer's waking lives by facilitating healing, inspiring peak athletic performances, putting an end to recurrent nightmares, overcoming phobias, reducing or eliminating various anxieties and improving problem solving capabilities.
There are methods that have been developed by various researchers in the field, such as LaBerge and Rheingold. A common technique is used by the Lucidity Institute, founded by LaBerge, and is referred to as Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (“MILD”). The basics of the MILD technique involves various steps such as deliberately making yourself wake up during a dream cycle and immediately recalling the details of the dream. Over time, the dreamer is capable of recalling all of his or her dreams. The dreamer is then directed to use a “dream sign” to use as a cue to recognize that he or she is still dreaming. Becoming proficient at lucid dreaming requires a great deal of time, dedication and practice.
In order to enhance the training of a person to develop strong lucid dreaming skills, various devices have been devised. Such devices use light and/or sound to help trigger lucid dreams. Among the shamans of some primitive cultures, they would enhance their ability to have lucid dreams by using various drugs. However, as one can imagine, most of these substances are considered illegal in the U.S. Among the legal substances known to promote sleep (and possibly dreaming) are the B-vitamins, Calea ternifolia, melatonin, mugwort and passionflower. Before using such a substance alone or in combinations, it is important to know how to use it and what side effects it might cause. There is a need, therefore, for a safe but effective nutritional supplement that helps a person go to sleep and which can enhance lucid dreaming even without extensive mental preparation or exercises.